Wimpfen Castle in the valley

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Wimpfen Castle in the valley
limes ORL 54/55 ( RLK )
Route (RLK) Neckar-Odenwald-Limes
Dating (occupancy) a) Fort at 90 (possibly a little earlier) to max. 159
b) Vicus until about AD 260
Type Cohort fort
unit a) Cohors II Hispanorum
b) Cohors I Germanorum (?)
c) unknown Cohors Br (ittonum) (possibly)
size unknown, probably between 2.6 and 3 ha
Construction Stone fort
State of preservation completely built over
place Bad Wimpfen -Wimpfen in the valley
Geographical location 49 ° 13 '53 "  N , 9 ° 10' 44"  E
height 152  m above sea level NHN
Previous Small fort Duttenberg (north)
Small fort Kochendorf (east)
Subsequently ORL 56 Heilbronn-Böckingen Fort (south)

The Wimpfen fort in the valley was a Roman military camp , the crew of which was responsible for security and surveillance tasks on the Neckar line of the Neckar-Odenwald-Limes . Its structural remains were discovered in the western part of what is now Wimpfen im Tal, a district of the spa town of Bad Wimpfen in the Baden-Württemberg district of Heilbronn . The garrison, which was occupied from around AD 90 to AD 159 at the latest, had a camp village ( vicus ) that existed until the fall of the Limes around AD 259/260.

Location and research history

The area of ​​today's place Wimpfen in the valley was of a certain strategic importance in Roman times. At the point where the Jagst flows into the Neckar , two highways crossed. One led from the Rhine further east into Germania, the second ran in an approximately north-south direction parallel to the Neckar.

The Imperial Limes Commission carried out the first systematic excavations between 1894 and 1898. Since then, archaeological investigations have taken place in the area of ​​Bad Wimpfen, which is rich in Roman finds and findings, often as emergency excavations in connection with urban or road construction measures. In 1957, the remains of a Roman Neckar bridge and in the 1980s a cult area in the area of ​​the vicus were located.

Fort

The location of the fort south of the Odenwald Limes
Site plan
(excavations 1894–1898)
Architectural details
(excavations 1894–1898)
Finds
(excavations 1894–1898)

The Wimpfen cohort fort in the valley is located in the area of ​​the western town center directly on the Neckar, directly opposite the mouth of the Jagst. The size of the fort could no longer be precisely determined, only the length of the west-east extension is reasonably reliable at 160 to 170 m. On the basis of comparisons with similar camps, a fort size of between 2.6 and 3 hectares must be assumed. The former north wall is located directly under the late medieval city wall. The fort was surrounded by a moat about ten meters wide and three meters deep. Little is known of the interior development.

The auxiliary troop fort Wimpfen in the valley was built in the Domitian era, probably around the year 90 AD. Isolated finds also suggest that the camp may have been founded around 85. The Wimpfen fort in the valley was occupied in the initial phase by the Cohors II Hispanorum equitata ("2nd partially mounted Spanish cohort"). After they were moved to Fort Stockstadt (ORL 33), the possibly partially mounted Cohors I Germanorum followed . However, this unity is only clearly documented with the relocation of the Limes by 159 in the new Jagsthausen Fort (ORL 41). Nothing further is known about a third Cohors Br (ittonum) ("Brittonian cohort"), which has been proven by finds .

Overall, the fort area is severely disturbed due to the overlay of more recent Roman and post-Roman findings. Today the fort lies completely under the medieval town center, so that nothing of it is visible anymore.

troops

Before its possible stationing in Bad Wimpfen, the Cohors I Germanorum can be proven in the Roman province of Moesia inferior (Lower Moesia ) in the Capidava fort on what is now Romanian soil. Their commander there, Marcus Sulpicius Felix, became known, who later received an honorary monument as prefect of the Ala II Syrorum from the Mauritanian city of Sala 144, as he had strengthened the city's walls.

In 1968 the doctor Hans-Heinz Hartmann found a fragment of a stamped military brick that lay in the rubble backfill of a Roman cellar in the vicus of Fort Wimpfen. The piece possibly belonged to a two-legged Suspensura roof tile and still had part of the stamp inscription: CHO BR ... , whereby the reading of the letter "B" was difficult, but for the archaeologist Dietwulf Baatz it was obvious, where he also had a "P" not excluded. Baatz read C (o) ho (rtis) and could imagine reading the names Cohors Breucorum , Cohors Brittonum or Cohors Britannorum in the abbreviation . However, if the “B” were to be read as a “P”, he could imagine reading the text as C (o) ho (rtis) pr (imae) ... , which could indicate the Cohors I Germanorum .

Whether the Cohors I Germanorum was a partially mounted unit is not certain, but there are strong indications for this thesis.

Vicus

Due to the extremely convenient location of the fort, the associated vicus developed into an above-average size and importance as the main town of the Civitas Alisinensium . However, nothing is known about the ancient name of the settlement. The longitudinally oval vicus extended over an area of ​​around 760 by 330 meters and was thus three times as large as the medieval Wimpfen. It was surrounded by a wall with towers and a moat.

In the Vicus, which is already impressive due to its finds and findings, a cult district is remarkable, which was explored during the excavations of the Baden-Württemberg State Monuments Office in the 1980s. Over 60 fragments of sandstone sculptures of gods were recovered, depicting Jupiter , Minerva , Mercury , Fortuna , Victoria and Mithras , among others .

The latest coin found from the vicus area dates to the year 257. Since no incendiary layers could be detected, a relatively peaceful end of the vicus can be assumed. The medieval walling of Wimpfen in the valley, which did not reach the size of the Roman vicus until the 20th century, still follows a section of the Roman walling in the north.

The Cornelienkirche and the collegiate church of St. Peter are located within the boundaries of the Roman settlement . The Cornelienkirche at the east gate of the Roman settlement takes its name from the assertion that was made in the chronicle of Dean Burkard von Hall from 1300 that the name of the Roman settlement was Cornelia . Both churches were built in places where Roman temples may have previously stood.

Lost property

The Roman history of Bad Wimpfen and finds are presented in the museum in the stone house .

Monument protection

The ground monument "Fort Wimpfen im Tal" is protected as a registered cultural monument within the meaning of the Monument Protection Act of the State of Baden-Württemberg (DSchG) . Investigations and targeted collection of finds are subject to approval, and accidental finds are reported to the monument authorities.

See also

literature

  • Dietwulf Baatz : The Roman Limes. Archaeological excursions between the Rhine and the Danube . 4th edition. Gebr. Mann, Berlin 2000, ISBN 3-7861-2347-0 .
  • Dietwulf Baatz: A new cohort on the Upper German Limes? In: Archaeological correspondence sheet . 4, 1974, pp. 353f.
  • Sigrid Bemetz: Osteological investigations on slaughter and municipal waste from the Roman vicus of Bad Wimpfen. (Research and reports on prehistory and early history in Baden-Württemberg), Konrad Theiss Verlag, Stuttgart 1991. ISBN 978-3-8062-0853-5 .
  • Meinrad N. Filgis: timber frame buildings in Kastelvicus von Wimpfen, Neckar-Odenwald Limes: topography, settlement structure, usage zones, ground plan types and verifiable uses. In: Limes XVIII. Proceedings of the XVIIIth Congress of Roman Frontier Studies. British Archaeological Reports International Series 1084. Archaeopress, Oxford 2002. pp. 395-402.
  • Meinrad N. Filgis: Selected building findings of the craft and trade in the Roman vicus of Wimpfen. In: The impact of Rome on Settlement in the Northwestern and Danube Provinces. British Archaeological Reports International Series 921. Oxford 2001. pp. 19-36.
  • Meinrad N. Filgis: Conversion of a luxuriously furnished strip house for the processing of agricultural products in the vicus of Wimpfen. In: Roman frontier studies 1995. Proceedings of the XVIth Congress of Roman Frontier Studies. Oxbow Monograph 9, Oxford 1997. pp. 205-213.
  • Meinrad N. Filgis: Building finds by metalworkers and lime burners in the Roman Wimpfen, Heilbronn district. In: Civil engineering of antiquity. Mainz 1991. pp. 47-52.
  • Meinrad N. Filgis, Martin Pietsch: The Roman city of Wimpfen in the valley, Kr. Heilbronn. In: Denkmalpflege in Baden-Württemberg , 14th year 1985, issue 3, pp. 168–177. ( PDF; 10.0 MB )
  • Philipp Filtzinger , Dieter Planck, Bernhard Cämmerer (Ed.): The Romans in Baden-Württemberg . 3. Edition. Theiss, Stuttgart 1986, ISBN 3-8062-0287-7 .
  • Claus-Michael Hüssen: The Roman settlement in the area around Heilbronn . Theiss, Stuttgart 2000, ISBN 3-8062-1493-X . (Research and reports on prehistory and early history in Baden-Württemberg, 78)
  • Egon Schallmayer : The Odenwald Limes. Along the Roman border between the Main and Neckar. Theiss, Stuttgart 2010, ISBN 978-3-8062-2309-5 , pp. 148-150.
  • Egon Schallmayer (Ed.): The Odenwald Limes. Latest research results. Contributions to the scientific colloquium on March 19, 2010 in Michelstadt . Saalburgmuseum, Bad Homburg 2012, ISBN 978-3-931267-07-0 (Saalburg-Schriften, 8).
  • Karl Schumacher in The Upper Germanic-Raetian Limes of the Roemerreiches (Eds. Ernst Fabricius , Felix Hettner , Oscar von Sarwey ): Department B, Volume 5, Fort No. 54/55 (1900)
  • Ernst Fabricius, Felix Hettner, Oscar von Sarwey (ed.): The Upper Germanic-Raetian Limes of the Roemerreiches , Department A, Volume 5: Route 10 (The Odenwald Limes from Wörth am Main to Wimpfen am Neckar), 1926, 1935

Web links

Remarks

  1. ↑ Dietwulf Baatz: The Roman Limes. Archaeological excursions between the Rhine and the Danube. 4th edition. Gebr. Mann, Berlin 2000, ISBN 3-7861-2347-0 , p. 208, suspects a different unit for the early days of the fort, since the Cohors II Hispanorum was still in Rottweil or Heddesdorf towards the end of the 1st century .
  2. ↑ Gabriella Bordenache: Romans in Romania , Römisch-Germanisches Museum, Cologne 1969. p. 48.
  3. ↑ Zaharia Covacef: Cohors I Germanorum a Capidava . In: Army and Urban Development in the Danubian Provinces of the Roman Empire . Alba Iulia, 2000. pp. 285-291.
  4. ↑ Rudolf Haensch, Johannes Heinrichs (Ed.): Rule and Administration. The everyday life of the Roman administration in the High Imperial Era . Böhlau Verlag, Vienna / Cologne / Weimar 2007, p. 290.
  5. ↑ Dietwulf Baatz: A new cohort on the Upper German Limes? In: Archaeological correspondence sheet . 4, 1974, pp. 353f .; here: p. 353.